suffixthird-declension two-termination suffix
-ābilis
-ābilis (neuter -ābile)
Meaning
- morphemepost Augustansuffixtwo terminationsuffixed to noun to form adjectives meaning "able to have or bring, prone to have or bring, having the power to have or bring": -able
exitium + -ābilis → exitiābilis
ratiō + -ābilis → ratiōnābilis
Origins
From -bilis, by rebracketing of words such as amābilis, where -ā- is the stem-final vowel of a first-conjugation verb (amāre, amō). This long -ā- is unrelated to the short -a- in the word habilis (“proper, apt”), from habeō.
Descendants
- Catalan-able
- Catalan-évol
- English-able
- French-able
- Italian-abile
- Italian-evole
- Portuguese-ável
- Occitan-able
- Romanian-bil
- Spanish-able